Once there was and once there was not a family of dogs. Like many dog families, there were dogs that had wandered off the street and dogs with fine pedigrees and dogs from the shelter and dogs who had been born into the family. They ran together. They played together....

Once there was and once there was not a town on the edge of the swamp in the sultry summer weather of far south Florida, between the alligators and the ocean. In this town there were two amazing friends, Sam and Joseph. They were a lot alike. They liked the same foods. They liked the same books.

Once upon a time, there were these two pirates name of Calico Caesar and Barnacle Betty, and their parrots Flag and Sail. It was actually the parrots, which the pirates carried for good luck, who introduced these two pirates to one another. Because one day in Cayo Hueso (Key West), sitting on the...